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"Saying 'I notice you're a nerd' is like saying, 'Hey, I notice that you'd rather be intelligent than be stupid, that you'd rather be thoughtful than be vapid, that you believe that there are things that matter more than the arrest record of Lindsay Lohan. Why is that?' In fact, it seems to me that most contemporary insults are pretty lame. Even 'lame' is kind of lame. Saying 'You're lame' is like saying 'You walk with a limp.' Yeah, whatever, so does 50 Cent, and he's done all right for himself."— John Green

9.24.2011

Happy Banned Books Week!

Today marks the start of Banned Books Week. Running from September 24th to October 1st, Banned Books Week is a celebration held every year, in the last week of September, to highlight the freedom to read and the importance of the 1st amendment. The American Library Association (ALA) uses BBW to highlight the importance of fighting against censorship and bringing attention to the attempts or instances of book censorship and banning within the United States.

Intellectual Freedom is the basis for BBW, as the ALA states that Intellectual Freedom is "the freedom to access information and express ideas, even if the information and ideas might be considered unorthodox or unpopular." Therefore, the information contained within a book must be accessible to all, even if you don't agree with it. Of course people have a problem with this, anfd are consistently attempting to deny access to not only themselves and their families, which is perfectly fine, but to other people and thier children as well. This is a problem, as not each family has the values or beliefs as the next, and should not be subjugated to those beliefs.To be clear, a challenge is defined as a formal, written complaint, filed with a library or school requesting that materials be removed because of content or appropriateness. If the material is then removed, that book has now been "banned". Over the past ten years, American libraries were faced with 4,660 challenges.

1,536 challenges due to material deemed “sexually explicit”;

1,231 challenges due to “offensive language”;

977 challenges due to material deemed “unsuited to age group”;

553 challenges due to “violence”

370 challenges due to “homosexuality”;

121 challenges due to material deemed “anti-family”; and

304 challenges due to “religious viewpoints.”

In the light of these statistics it is important that people (like all my wonderful readers) take a stand, and support Banned Books Week! Here are some resources to get you started!

The National Coalition
Against Censorshipis an alliance of fifty national non-profit
organizations, including literary, artistic, religious, educational,
professional, labor, and civil liberties groups that works to educate both members
and the public at large about the dangers of censorship and how to oppose it.

is the only organization in the United States whose primary
goal is to protect and promote the First Amendment in libraries by
participating in litigation dealing with free expression in libraries and
other venues. Members receive a quarterly newsletter, The FTRF News